A New Jersey school is dealing with a toxic problem Tuesday. The school has areas of mold that need to be cleaned up, and teachers are taking drastic measures to bring attention to the problem. The school is located in South Orange. School officials have decided to take classes outside Tuesday, because they say being outdoors is a lot safer than being inside South Orange Middle School.

All of the classes are on the lawn today because many of the classrooms are not in good enough condition.
Physical education teacher Joanna Wright sent pictures to Eyewitness News that show growing ceiling stains from old leaks, overloaded chemical storage areas and expired fire extinguishers. Wright calls the conditions deplorable.
"We have a mold problem that is so horrid that the health of students is being compromised," she said.
Teachers say it has been a problem at the school for a long time and is not conducive to teaching.

"Sitting in classrooms filled with mold is difficult, and they have to keep relocating the classrooms," language arts teacher Wendy Fine said. "I think it puts a strain on nerves."

Wright, who is head of the teacher's union, says they and students have complained of headaches and breathing problems. She says she's sure the problems inside are the common denominator.

"Allergies, coughs, we had a parent talk at a board meeting the other night that had a child who was recently diagnosed with Bells Palsy," she said.

Principal Kirk Smith says steps will be taken immediately after school Tuesday to get the building back to where the kids can be inside.

"We're going to take some corrections in a few of the classrooms so that we can seal some of the holes that we opened up in the building trying to track down where the leaks are coming from," he said.

That will be just a stopgap measure. Smith says more will be done after the school year ends, which is set for June 21. He says permanent fixes will be made over the summer break.

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